Carl Winston awakens to find his son, Liam, screaming with fear. Trying
to understand why, Carl tries to soothe him. Neighbors gather in front
of Carl’s apartment to help – until they see him. The crowd cowers
back, afraid of this monster.

Carl runs. His life of luxury is
ripped away. Forced beyond the city limits, Carl sees a land bereft of
life. Traveling in search of answers, his quest comes to a sudden halt
when he collapses. As darkness shrouds him, a figure hovers from above.

Traveling
along the same route, Eva Thomspon finds Carl and nurtures him back to
life. Together, they continue the journey, finding out that their lives
have too much in common to be a coincidence. As their affection for each
other deepens, an unknown nemesis attempts to remove their only source
of happiness – their love for each other.

Interpretation is a
dystopian fiction that explores hope and happiness in the bleakest of
conditions and what happens when it’s torn away.

Interpretation by Dylan Callens

Carl’s life was good. His relationship with his son, Liam was wonderful, they shared many of the same interests. The only blip in their “normal” days was the annual test Carl must take, per the government. It shouldn’t really have been an issue, after all, it asked questions that each individual could answer differently, right? It was all a matter of INTERPRETATION, but what Carl’s answers told his government and its many “departments” was interpreted as flawed, a problem for all, and this is when Carl’s world would become a living nightmare, far more real than the “good life” he has been living.

When he finds himself in Bedlam, an insane asylum, he has only a couple of concerns, WHY was he there and what would happen to Liam? The opportunity to escape is too great to ignore, but what Carl finds beyond the city limits may prove that his entire life was a lie and that the very thing that made him human could kill him, or worse…yes, worse.

Dylan Callens thrusts us into a world of lies and manipulations, a dystopian world where humans are the sheep and their masters, their governments, were once considered one of humanity’s greatest creations. Gritty, dark and worthy of nightmares, the future world may not be the Utopia we would like to believe and Dylan Callens holds nothing back in this fascinating look at what humanity may be unknowingly rocketing towards and what would happen if we allowed ourselves to become devoid of what makes us “human.”

We all have felt that governments are flawed for one reason or another, chalking it up to human error, human flaws, but what would happen if the “human” was taken out of the equation? What if there was no longer a way to truly interpret human emotions, feelings, hopes and dreams? What if those were considered flaws to be overridden in a clueless society? Worse, what if they could be overridden and we never knew and then suddenly, like Carl, we become a pariah because “something” in our society malfunctioned? Think about it the next time you download another app that is soooooooo cool!

By far, one of the best dystopian tales I have read this year, terrifying, thought-provoking and yes, entertaining. Thanks for the nightmares, Dylan Callens, great job!

I received an ARC edition from Dylan Callens in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.